The English stone carver, artist, and typographer Eric Gill conceived the Joanna typeface as a personal design for use in books printed at his "Joanna Press." Gill saw his press work there as a continuation of the British Arts and Crafts Movement, pioneered in the 19th Century by William Morris. Joanna is notable for its almost vertical "upright" italics, and the unusally small size of its italic characters. Joanna is versatile and extremely legible. The letterforms are a bit narrow, so the face is very economic as well. A lot of text may be packed densely together onto a page with Joanna. Joanna mixes very well with other typefaces designed by Eric Gill; especially Gill Sans®.
